Deck chair with swingable back regulated by the supports



Feb. 28, 1%? o. GRIEINER 3,396,659

DECK CHAIR WITH SWINGABLE BACK REGULATED BY THE SUPPORTS Filed Jan 27, 1964 INVEN TOR 0 T TO GEE/IVER United States Patent 3,306,659 DECK CHAIR WITH SWINGABLE BACK REGULATED BY THE SUPPORTS Otto Greiner, Brunnenstrasse 9, Neustadt, near Coburg, Bavaria, Germany Filed Jan. 27,1964, Ser. No. 341,836 1 Claim. (Cl. 29719) This invention relates to a deck chair provided with a swingable back.

Most deck chairs now in use can not be placed in a fully stretched out position; a person occupying the chair usually must get up in order to adjust the back of the chair. There are constructions, however, the users of which can set the chair in a more or less stretched out or angular position by shifting their weight; mechanisms of these constructions are rather complicated and they are not balanced throughout their range of movement, so that in order to move the chair in one direction more pressure must be used than when it is moved in the opposite direction.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a deck chair the back of which can be moved by the weight shifting of the userto the extent of about 90 degrees and into a completely stretched out position, while there is exact balance throughout these movements, so that the user must apply the same additional pressure against the seat in order to move the back upward as must be applied against the back in order to move it down.

In the appended drawing showing preferred embodiments of the present invention:

FIGURE 1 is a side View of the deck chair frame in its stretched out position.

FIGURE 2 is a side view showing the deck chair in its angular position.

FIGURE 3 shows the deck chair when folded.

FIGURE 4 shows in side view and on a larger scale a chair support of a somewhat different construction.

FIGURE 5 is similar to FIG. 4 but shows the support in a different position.

FIGURE 6 is a side view of the hinge connection of the construction shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 on a larger scale.

FIGURE 60: is a section through the hinge connection shown in FIG. 6.

The deck chair shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawing has a seat 1 which is joined by the usual hinges 8 with a back 2. A support 11 of the usual type is connected to the front end portion of the seat 1.

In accordance with the present invention the chair is supported upon the ground by two pairs of supports 3, 4, each pair being connected to a separate side of the chair. Each support 3 has a main straight portion terminating in an upper end 6 pivotally connected to the seat 1 and a lower angular portion 3a extending in a different direction from the main straight portion and toward the support 4. A ground-engaging surface 9 is located at the apex of the angle formed by the portion 3a and the main straight portion of the support. Each support 4 is pivotally connected at 16 with the end of the portion 3a and is pivotally attached at 7 to the back 2.

The two supports 3 and 4 serve not only as supports but are also used to transmit the Weight from the seat to the back and for providing equilibrium.

It is for that purpose that the lower end of the support 3 is provided with the angularly extending portion 3a. The difliculty in providing equilibrium for a continuously adjustable object serving for sitting as well as lying, resides in that the pressure of the user against the back of the chair is greater when the back is in the lying Patented Feb. 28, 1967 position (FIG. 1) than when-it is in the sitting position (FIG. 2), while the pressure of the weight of the user against the seat is smaller when the back is in the lying position than when the back is in the sitting position. Consequently, in accordance with the present invention the arrangement of the supports 3, 4 is such that when the back of the chair is in the lying position the pressure of the weight upon the seat is transmitted to the back in a stronger way than when the back is in the sititng position.

This effect is attained in the following manner:

In the construction of FIGS. l-3 the ground-engaging portion 9 constitutes at the same time the vortex of the angular support 3 around which the support'turns when the chair is moved. Theshort end 3a of the angular support 3 and the support 4 form with each other an obtuse angle. This angle approaches a straight line as the back of the chair is moved downwardly and for this reason the effectiveness of the pressure of the short end 3a gets greater. The change in the pressure transmitted from the seat to the back can be regulated precisely by regulating the length of the short end 3a, the angle a formed by the short end and the distances of the centers of motion 6 and'7 of the supports 3 and 4, respectively, from the hinges 8.

FIGURES 4 and 5 show a deck chair of substantially similar construction, the same parts being designated by the same numerals. However, in this construction the support 3 of angular shape is replaced by a support 3' having a curved lower end. This construction is particularly suitable when the deck-chair frame is made of steel tubing. In that case the change in transmitted pressure is based on the fact that the point of contact of the curved lever portion with the ground keeps changing.

When the back of the chair moves downwardly, the point of contact with the ground shifts toward the hinge connection which connects the supports 3' and 4. Therefore the distance between the point of contact and the hinge which constitutes the center of motion, is shortened, so that the effectiveness of the pressure is increased.

Thus in this construction as well, the pressure of weight upon the seat is transmitted to a greater extent to the back when the deck chair is in its stretched out position than when the back is raised. The extent of the change in the transmitted pressure may be regulated precisely by suitably shaping the curved end of the support 3' which becomes flatter toward its end portion.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 6a the hinge connection be tween the pair of supports 3' and the pair of supports 4 consists of transverse tubes 16' and 17. The tubular piece 16' encloses the ends of the supports 4, while tubular piece 17 encloses the ends of the supports 3' and is tightened thereon by means of screws. The tubular pieces 16' and 17 are joined by longitudinal welding. This hinge-like connection along with the adjacent ends of the supports 3 and 4 provides a bow-shaped contact area with the ground.

Since the deck chair is balanced irrespective of the extent of inclination of its back and does not move when its occupant is at rest, no special locking means are necessary. The downward movement of the back 2 is limited, firstly by the hinge 8 and also by a plate 5 carried by a lower surface of the back 2 and striking the seat 1 when the back 2 and the seat 1 are substantially in alinement.

Further limitation of movement is attained by a swinging lever 12-swingably mounted upon the seat 1 and having a projecting end 15 adapted to engage a projection 13 fixed to the support 3'.

In addition, the swinging lever 12 has the following function:

People using deck chairs nowadays often do not only want to rest but also want their bodies to be exposed to sunshine from all sides, if possible. Therefore, deck chairs must be so constructed that their occupants can turn around easily and without imparting a rocking motion to the chair. To attain this a rigid locking mechanism is necessary. Such mechanism is provided by the swinging lever 12 which engages by its end 15 a small projection 14 fixed to the support 3' somewhat above the projection 13. The back 2 can be moved upwardly again by weight shifting only after the user swings the lever 12 outwardly by hand.

When the chair is being folded and when the user lifts the front end support, the lever 12 swings by its own weight away from the support 3' and out of contact with the projections 13 and 14. Thus this chair can be easily and completely folded in a manner similar to that of the folded chair shown in FIG. 3.

I claim:

A deck chair comp-rising a seat, a back, a hinge swingably connecting one end of the seat with one end of the back, a front support pivotally connected to another end of the seat, a pair of similar supports having ends pivotally connected to opposite sides of the seat intermediate the ends thereof, a pair of similar supports having ends pivotally connected to opposite sides of the back intermediate the ends thereof, each of the supports connected to the seat having a :main straight portion and another end portion extending in a different direction from said main straight portion and toward an adjacent back-connected support, and means hingedly connecting said end portion of each seat-connected support with the other end of the tion of the deck chair. 7

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,113,145 4/1938 Van Wyck 29719 2,200,647 5/ 1940 Vanderploeg 5111, 2,670,785 3/1954 Machet 537 2,679,284 5/ 1954 Luckhar-dt 29729 2,719,573 10/1955 Lesser 297---29 2,724,428 1 1/ 1955 Sellner 297320 FOREIGN PATENTS 205,192 10/1959 Austria. 1,151,930 8/1957 France.

681,657 9/1939 Germany.

2,242 1888 Great Britain. 5,271 1896 Great Britain. 282,036 7/ 1952 Switzerland.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Assistant Examiner. 

